Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management National Report from the Commonwealth of Australia October 2008

Article 26 Decommissioning of a nuclear facility

Section 32 of the ARPANS Act includes the requirement that the CEO of ARPANSA, when making a licensing decision about decommissioning of a facility, takes into account international best practice in radiation protection and nuclear safety. Other information regarding decommissioning plan and the decommissioning schedule required by the Regulations must also be taken into account. Any radioactive waste arising from dismantling or decommissioning activities will be stored in existing storage facilities at ANSTO until a final disposal option is available.

In States and Territories, most simple storage facilities operated by the regulators would not require complex procedures to be undertaken to decommission the facility. Hence some do not have decommissioning plans in place but would require them prior to undertaking decommissioning activities. More complex facilities include a preliminary or conceptual decommissioning plan as part of the radiation management plan for the facility.

Staffing and financial resources

ANSTO is cognisant of the challenges posed by diminishing numbers of staff qualified in the nuclear industry and seeks to ensure that it has the appropriate resources in future years.

Each year, ANSTO allocates funds from its annual budget to decommissioning projects. ANSTO is also in the process of updating a decommissioning process plan for long-term planning and management of decommissioning projects.

In South Australia, for the decommissioning of uranium mining facilities, the mining or milling company is expected to provide appropriate technical expertise and resources. Provisions of the South Australia radiation protection legislation could be applied to require a company to provide appropriate resources and personnel for decommissioning. Under the Mining Act 1971 a bond may be set by the relevant Minister to recover costs of rehabilitation of mining sites. At present, the Beverley uranium project is subject to a bond that is revised periodically. The bond is set at a level to cover the estimated cost for rehabilitation of the mine and milling site to current standards. In the case of the Olympic Dam project, the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982 (SA) applies. While there is no provision for a bond under the Indenture Act, the mining company is required to maintain an ongoing rehabilitation program at the site.

ARPANSA is developing skills and expertise in safety assessment of decommissioning practices.

Operational radiation protection

A preliminary decommissioning plan was submitted as part of the application for a licence to operate the OPAL reactor. This included the choice of materials to minimise activation, space for access and minimisation of the radioactive waste that will be produced during commissioning. In licensing OPAL for operation, ARPANSA was satisfied that ANSTO has plans and arrangements to satisfy decommissioning requirements.

Operational radiation protection will be a very important consideration during the decommissioning of MOATA and the preparation for safe enclosure of HIFAR.  During the decommissioning of the HIFAR and MOATA reactors there will be in place operational protection through radioactive waste management to ensure that discharges are managed and uncontrolled releases avoided.

The application for a licence to possess or control HIFAR contained a radiation protection plan (http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/hifar/partb3.pdf) which outlined the measures which will be taken to minimise exposures during the safe enclosure period. The application for approval to dismantle Moata, to be lodged in the near future, will also contain similar detail.

Emergency preparedness

The Response Plan for Accidents and Incidents at ANSTO/LHSTC encompasses all facilities at the site including shutdown reactors.

Record keeping

ANSTO keeps comprehensive records of all radioactive waste generated from ongoing production and specific decommissioning activities. The records are maintained through databases and tracking systems. Record keeping for spent radioactive sources is also managed through comprehensive database management.

Assessment of compliance

Currently regulatory requirements adequately address the provision of resources, operational limits, emergency plans and record keeping in regard to decommissioning and disposal facility closure as required by Article 26. For older facilities that did not have decommissioning plans that would be regarded as adequate by current standards, regulators are ensuring that conceptual plans are developed prior to decommissioning activities.

Section G – Safety of Spent Fuel Management

Article 4 General safety requirements

Compliance with this article remains as reported in the last Australian National Report.

Within Australia, only the Commonwealth government has responsibility for the management of spent fuel. Thus this Section only refers to the Commonwealth entity ANSTO that manages spent nuclear fuel and the Commonwealth government regulator (ARPANSA) that licences the spent fuel management facilities.

ANSTO possesses the only facilities in Australia for managing spent fuel, as all the spent fuel produced in Australia comes from research reactors once operated, or currently operated, by ANSTO. The relevant regulatory authority, ARPANSA, has issued facility licences to ANSTO which authorises ANSTO to operate its spent fuel management facilities. The facility licences are subject to licence conditions which specify how individuals, society and the environment are to be protected against radiological hazards.

At ANSTO spent fuel from HIFAR was stored in several wet-store facilities for various periods after discharge from the reactor. A large dry store was also used in the past for the interim storage of spent fuel prior to further handling, such as transport offshore for long-term storage or reprocessing, depending on its destination. See Section D for further detail.

The spent fuel management facilities for the OPAL reactor form part of the OPAL reactor facility. As such, ANSTO’s compliance with the requirements of Chapter 2 of the Convention has been examined in detail as part of the consideration of its applications to the regulatory body ARPANSA for authorisations to prepare a site, construct, commission and operate the facility.

Measures to ensure criticality and removal of residual heat

This is relevant to wet storage of aged spent fuel before final shipment. ARPANSA requires that facilities for the storage of spent fuel at ANSTO adequately address criticality and heat generation issues as part of the licence authorisation and licence conditions. The wet storage facilities currently in use, or formerly used for spent fuel, adequately address criticality as well as the removal of any decay heat generated during the storage period. All operations involving fissile material are covered by criticality certification. The subcritical mass of fissile nuclide is also stipulated by operational limits and conditions for spent fuel storage.

Measures to ensure minimum practical generation of radioactive waste

ANSTO gives priority to minimising its generation of radioactive waste including by selection of appropriate materials. The generation of radioactive waste from spent fuel storage is kept to a minimum and consists largely of water filters and ion-exchange resins.

Measures to take into account interdependencies

The spent fuel handling equipment takes into account the interdependencies among the different steps in spent fuel management.

Protection of individuals, the public and the environment

ARPANSA's Commonwealth nuclear safety legislation, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998, accompanying regulations and subsidiary regulatory guidance, such as ARPANSA’s Regulatory Assessment Principles, provide for effective protection of individuals, society and the environment. These are based on internationally endorsed criteria and standards.

Assessment of biological, chemical and other hazards

Whilst Australia does not reprocess spent fuel, ANSTO has safely managed its spent fuel since commencement of reactor operations, and has stored that spent fuel in both dry and wet facilities. Currently, only wet storage of spent fuel is in practice at ANSTO. Management of the wet facilities entails monitoring and controlling pond chemistry, and radiation safety is maintained by standard practices as applied to all radioactive materials whether in dry or wet storage.

Avoiding greater and undue burdens on future generations

‘Burden on future generations’ is taken into account in the decision on whether or not to give the applicant a licence to operate or use the facility, equipment or material. For example, the CEO of ARPANSA must consider international best practice in radiation protection and nuclear safety when assessing each licence application and in addition:

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  whether the information establishes that the proposed conduct can be carried out without undue risk to the health and safety of people, and to the environment; and
  
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  whether the applicant has shown that there is a net benefit from carrying out the conduct relating to the controlled facility; and
  
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  whether the applicant has shown that the magnitude of individual doses, the number of people exposed, and the likelihood that exposure will happen, are as low as reasonably achievable, having regard to economic and social factors.
  

These factors are considered taking into account both current and future impacts of the facilities.

Assessment of compliance

Australia has effective regulatory and operations controls in place to ensure that it has effective compliance with the general safety measures for the management of spent fuel.